Kaoru: Do you have to keep saying that over and over?
Onna: Not unless you want those lawyers to come back and have Liv swallow them.
Kaoru: Point taken...
Onna: Despite Onna-baka's love for a Cloud x Tifa pairing, Aeris is okay in her book. And besides, she's not a Final Fantasy writer! Liv is!
Liv: *plays chess with Cloud* HAHA! Checkmate! XD
Cloud: *raises brow and moves King*
Liv: Oh ^^;;
Onna: For the love of heaven...!
Kenshin: Oro?!
Onna: Ack! Susan! You can stop threatening us now!!! WAAAAH!!!
**********
"Ken."
"Oro?" Kenshin looked up to find Cloud standing in front of him, arm extended.
"It's time you got used to Magic. Yahiko, you'll come too."
"Sano?" Kenshin asked as he placed his sword on his belt.
"Che. I don't need magic," Sano said haughtily. "I can help get Jou-chan back with just these," he raised his fists.
"Suit yourself," Cloud said as he placed his Ultima Weapon on his back and hopped on a Chocobo. "You all right, Ken?"
Kenshin nodded wordlessly,
his hand still tightening his grip on his sword. If they harm
Kaoru... I swear I'll kill them...
Bleary blue eyes opened, and Kaoru found herself back in her original prison. The place where the syringe struck was sore and swollen. Kaoru cursed under her breath and pulled herself to her feet, still wondering if the cloning was successful.
You're awake... the form from earlier hissed.
"No thanks to you," she shot back, glaring daggers at it.
Patience, my dear... it grinned. Your friends will join you very soon. And they will join my cause, whether they like it or not.
"You'll never get them," she spat out. "They're stronger than you think."
I know all your strengths and weaknesses, and they're nothing compared to me. I am the strongest of all.
"You're just as bad as Shishio," Kaoru snapped. "And like him, you'll go down as well."
The doors hissed open and Hojo stepped inside. "I see you're having conversation," he said, smiling evilly.
If that's how you see it.
"Meet your clone, my dear."
Kaoru gasped. The figure that followed after the scientist had raven hair, blue eyes, complete with a kimono ensemble and a blue ribbon. She looked exactly like Kaoru...
Only she has an evil glint in her eyes... Kaoru thought, clenching her fists.
"If you think this copy can fool Kenshin," she growled, fire burning in her sapphire orbs, "you're wrong. He won't fall for this!"
How can you be so sure?
Kaoru wisely stayed silent, careful not to divulge any information about Kenshin's skills.
Kenshin can sense ki...
"All right!" Cloud cried as he finished of two boar-like monsters with Fire. "That's how it's done."
Yahiko looked at Cloud with his jaw hanging. "Sugoi! That was so cool!"
"Aa, Kuraudo-san," Kenshin nodded. "How do you control this... materias?"
"Control?" Cloud shook his head. "With Materia equipped on you, you learn the knowledge of the Ancients. The materia you have enables you to summon the abilities of earth. You just have to concentrate on using earth and it guides you and does the rest."
"Aa," Kenshin nodded as soon as three more boars appeared.
"I'll give it a try," Yahiko said, concentrating on his ice materia. Green light glowed around him as Yahiko raised his shinai to chest level. He swung it back upwards, creating a huge lump of ice. Yahiko let out a battle cry and brought the bamboo sword down, sending the ice to one of the boars. It howled and died.
Yahiko slumped to the ground panting. "That was cool! But it was exhausting!"
"Materia increases your magic power very well, but it greatly decreases your hit power," Cloud said as he fished out two purple materias. "These are HP Plus materias. It will keep your strength from draining."
Yahiko took it gratefully. "Your turn, Kenshin!"
Kenshin quickly equipped the HP Plus, then turned his attention to the remaining two boars. When he equipped the earth materia, he had felt weaker and rather naive. With the HP Plus materia in the bangle Cloud gave him, he felt 'normal' again...though not to its fullest extent. One lunged over to attack him, which he quickly sidestepped. He called on his Earth materia, his body glowing green. He stretched out his sword, twirling it at a great speed, casting a quake on the ground beneath the boars. Again they howled and died.
"Good!" Cloud called out as Kenshin dropped to the ground. "It's very taxing even with the HP plus, isn't it?"
Kenshin nodded, unable to speak.
"You'll get used to it in no time. Next thing you know, you'll be executing Limit Breaks without breaking a sweat."
"Limit Breaks? What's that?" Yahiko asked, revitalizing himself with an X-Potion before throwing it to Kenshin, who drank thirstily.
"That would depend on your skills," Cloud replied. "These could seen as your signature moves."
"I oughta see Kenshin Kuzu Ryusen a monster!" Yahiko shouted gleefully.
"Oro..."
Cloud's PHS buzzed. "Yes?"
"Cloud!"
"Aeris?"
"Kaoru's here! She managed
to escape!"
Kaoru cursed as she was held in her prison. Hojo's lab was now empty and dark. Kaoru did not appreciate being probed and poked like an animal.
The clone had left hours ago, and who knows what havoc it's wreaking on the AVALANCHE and her friends?
That's why I'm getting out of here!
She had earlier discovered a small hole in the magical barrier, and also noticed that one of the lab windows directly faced the slums.
If she could manage to sneak out and find her way to them...
She carefully slid her body through the hole, wincing in pain when some parts of her body hit the barrier. No alarm went off, probably because they didn't think she would be bold enough to escape.
Yet again you underestimated me, she thought. I'm not a swordswoman for nothing.
She silently crept to the stairs, taking care to keep silent as she closed the door. She checked herself to see if she left anything, and confident that she left no trace, began to descend the stairs.
After what felt like forever, she finally snuck out of the Shinra compound. She dashed for the dark slums, carefully avoiding the guards and light.
When she made a considerable distance, she dropped to the ground and crawled to the dark areas of the slums. She grabbed a piece of cloth from the garbage can and covered her head with it. She found a tattered cloak and wrapped it around her. Leaning over she grabbed a handful of dust and dirtied her face with it. She then leaned back and slept.
But not for long.
The sound of footsteps jolted her awake, and instinctively she knew they were looking for her. She saw that a gate heading outside was open, left without guards. She took a deep breath, grabbed a stick and hobbled over to the gate.
Apparently her charade was convincing. Everyone who passed her by thought she was either a cripple or an old woman. When she left the city to a wide open field, she threw all caution to the wind and ran.
**********
Jap Terms:
1. Kuzu Ryusen- part of learning the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu succession technique; it is a combination of the nine basic kenjutsu strikes, making it impossible for the opponent to avoid the strikes.
Liv: I'm making stuff sound like a game?
Cloud: ?
Liv: HP Plus materia? Kenshin doesn't have HP!
Cloud: Liv...